


Heart With A Gaping Hole

by Soozen



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, I love making Azula be the emotional support of Ty Lee okay, Lesbian Azula (Avatar), Magical Pregnancy, Pregnancy, Protective Azula (Avatar)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:13:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25541902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soozen/pseuds/Soozen
Summary: Ty Lee wants the one thing Azula can't give her.So, of course, Azula has to do the impossible.
Relationships: Azula/Ty Lee (Avatar)
Comments: 49
Kudos: 419





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is in some sort of AU where Azula and Ty Lee live together in the palace, and Azula maybe didn't go crazy? I don't know. I didn't think it through. Don't worry about it too much.

“You’ve been remarkably distant lately.”

Azula comes behind Ty Lee, wrapping her arms affectionately around her slim waist as Ty Lee leans over the balcony of their room. It is mid afternoon, and a glorious breeze lifts the scent of the flowers in the garden below to them.

Ty Lee _has_ been distant. Distracted. Enough so that Azula is compelled to comment on it. She places a kiss on the back of Ty Lee’s neck, and lets go of her, taking up the space beside her. While Ty Lee looks out over the garden, elbows resting upon the rail, Azula leans back against it, her eyes on her wife.

Wife. _Her_ wife. Azula loves the sound of it. Ty Lee is her wife, and has been for some years now. She never has grown tired of it, nor does she think she ever will.

Ty Lee remains quiet, in a move remarkably unlike her. The most she gives Azula is a small glance. Distant, distracted, quiet.

“You’d better tell me what’s bothering you,” Azula says, and tries once again to engage her through touch; two fingers running through her bangs. “You can’t expect me to fix whatever it is if you don’t tell me.”

“It’s….” Ty Lee appears to struggle with the wording she is looking for, before apparently giving up. “You can’t fix this, Azula.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Impossible.” With a gentle touch of her fingers to Ty Lee’s chin, she turns her face to meet her eyes. “For you, I can do anything.”

When she wills something, it comes to fruition. Ty Lee knows this. Azula cannot even begin to fathom what would cause her to doubt now. But Azula’s promise does little to bring light back to Ty Lee’s face, and it escapes her memory for any other time such sadness was in her eyes.

“Ty,” she presses. “Tell me.”

A soft exhale, and Ty Lee’s shoulders slump. “…I want a baby.”

That certainly isn’t the response Azula thought she would hear. Never in her life has Azula envisioned herself as a mother, of having a child, a _baby_. But clearly Ty Lee has. Ty Lee wishes to be a mother, and there is such an easy solution to this that Azula nearly laughs.

Maybe she has never wanted to be a mother, but she will never deny this of Ty Lee. For Ty Lee, she will move mountains. For Ty Lee, she will raise a child at her side; it is so simple.

“Is that all?” Azula smiles at Ty Lee, a hand on her shoulder now. “You had me worried this would be difficult. I can arrange for a meeting with the headmaster of every orphanage in the Fire Nation tomorrow. Say the word, and you will have a baby by the end of the week.”

Except this does nothing to appease Ty Lee. She is avoiding Azula’s eyes, her jaw is tense. “No.” She shakes her head, and Azula frowns. “I didn’t mean….” Another sigh, and she wets her lips. “I want your baby, Azula. _Our_ baby.”

And when Ty Lee places a hand over her own flat stomach, Azula’s eyes widen.

“Ty Lee, you know that’s impossible.” The words escape Azula’s lips before she can stop herself.

“I know,” is Ty Lee’s reply, and Azula can hear the tightness in her voice.

“It doesn’t mean I want it any less.” She tries to stay composed, to keep her tears in, and she only is just barely able to say that sentence before she falls to pieces, and the only thing Azula can do is hold her and feel absolutely useless.

This has never happened before. There has never been a problem that Azula could not find the solution for. It never mattered how great the stakes or the circumstances; Azula always has come out on top.

Until now.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Azula searches for a way to give Ty Lee what she wants.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, just a reminder that this is a weird AU where Azula isn't crazy and lives in the palace. 
> 
> Oh, and Wan never sealed the portals to the spirit world either because that's what the plot called for.

“You wish to defy nature?”

Azula glares up at the spirit- giant, humanoid and womanly in figure, but made of earth and bark and plants of every kind. Her face- for surely, Shinda, the spirit of fertility, was female- is anything but lovely, all branches and twigs, hollows where her eyes should be.

It had taken far too much research to find this spirit. An old forgotten temple, swallowed up by a mangrove forest, half sunk into the sea, was where old texts had directed Azula, in her search to give Ty Lee what she wanted.

Ty Lee never asked for anything at all. Forever content with what she was given, grateful for all that she had, Azula was not about to keep this one desire from her. If Ty Lee wanted a baby- _their_ baby- then Azula would tear apart this world and the next to grant her this wish. The obvious answer was the spirits, and even more narrowly, fertility spirits. Each nation seemed to have one they favored over the rest, and foolishly, the Fire Nation had long since forgotten to care about theirs. Faith in the spirits had waned during Fire Lord Sozin’s time, being replaced with trust in the royal family for all things.

It made the search for this temple near impossible. Even more difficult was contacting Shinda through her shrine, in ruins as it was. Azula made due with what she had. Offerings were made from the top of the temple, where water had not reached yet, and it was there that she meditated, and (loathe as she was to admit it) praying to the spirit.

Never had she expected the spirit to be so impossibly large.

Taller than the tallest tree she had ever seen, Azula could not understand how she had not heard her arrival. She’d leapt to her feet, addressing Shinda and telling her of her need, only to be laughed at, the spirit’s voice louder and deeper than ever necessary.

But Azula does not flinch. She keeps her eyes narrowed up at Shinda, her stance firm. Nothing is more important than the task at hand, to convince this spirit to grant Ty Lee the impossible.

“I _seek_ to give my wife the only thing she has ever wanted,” she bites back. “You are the spirit of fertility; you alone can grant this, and you _will_ make this happen.”

Again, the spirit laughs, the sound thundering and echoing among the mangrove trees. “You think the desire of one meaningless woman matters to me? There is an order to life, and you dare think you can disrupt it for your own selfish needs? Defiant girl, go back to your palace.”

Azula refuses to back down. “Not until you grant what I have come here for!”

Shinda steps closer; Azula has to crane her neck just to see the spirit’s face. At first she is relieved as the spirit lowers herself into a crouch, until her eyes come level with Azula’s face, and Azula is suddenly extremely aware of just how small she is in comparison.

“You think I would give freely to your demands?” Shinda hisses. “You want something? Work must be done first.”

Azula resists the urge to roll her eyes, not daring to potentially irritate the spirit now that she seemed to be getting her way. “Tell me what it is, and it will be done.”

“So confident without knowing the task. Foolish girl.”

 _If this spirit called her ‘girl’ one more time…._ “You do not know what I am capable of.”

This brings a smile to Shinda’s earthen lips. “That may be. But what you seek is to defy the law of nature. The task before you is a grueling one. You are likely not to survive.”

Azula grits her teeth. “ _Tell. Me._ ”

A gust of wind blows, harsh and in her eyes; Azula raises her arms to block it, shutting her eyes. When she opens them, Shinda is smaller, no taller than an average woman, and holding out a small hand-held mirror, not unlike the ones Azula is used to using at home (if not without the intricate carvings in the metal handle). Wordlessly, Azula accepts it, staring curiously at the spirit.

“There is a spirit known for meddling in human affairs, stealing the faces of those I breathe life into,” Shinda explains. “His name is Koh. I want his face- his true face- brought to me. Do this, and I will give your wife the child she desires.”

Azula considers the mirror in her hand. “And this, I assume, is meant to be of use?”

Shinda nods. “It is the only way to kill him.”

* * *

Azula is no fool; she knows to research this Koh before setting out to find him. Unfortunately, there is one person in the world who knows has met Koh and lived, and it is the Avatar. In a meeting with him arranged by her brother, the Avatar spends most of it trying to dissuade her from seeking him out, warning her of how dangerous he is.

Of course the Face Stealer would be dangerous; Azula does not expect otherwise. It is only when it is apparent that nothing is going to keep her from finding Koh that the Avatar provides her with any useful information. She must not show any emotion, make any expression at all. It is a strange rule for a spirit to live by, but it does provide protection. So long as she maintains perfect control (and if there is anything Azula excels in, it is control), she is safe.

The Avatar warns her that Koh is tricky, that he is scary and vile, with dozens of legs and even more faces that he uses to shock and surprise and scare. He wants to know why Azula is determined to fight and kill this spirit, but she refuses to give an inch. Not even Ty Lee knows what she is trying to do. She will not get her hopes up if this only ends in ruin.

Armed with knowledge of Koh and the mirror given to her by Shinda, Azula journeys to the north pole, to the portal to the spirit world. It is not her intention to go far into the spirit world, but the Avatar does not feel she will need to. He is a greedy spirit, Koh, and the face of Fire Nation royalty is likely to be too tempting for him to pass up.

If she were not so moved by the task at hand, Azula may have taken a moment to appreciate the beauty of the forest around her, leading up to the spirit portal, and again inside the portal. There is no time to pause and take in her surroundings. As if expecting her arrival, coiled around a great tree is Koh.

He is every bit detestable as the Avatar had said, like a millipede a thousand times its size, with the face of a beautiful woman. But then a shell like casing closes briefly over his face, and when it opens again, it was monstrous creature, angry eyes, jagged teeth.

Azula grips the handle of the mirror tightly, keeping her face passive as Koh came closer.

“Ah, Princess Azula, I was wondering if you’d manage to make it here at all,” the loathsome spirit croons at her, voice velvety and rich. “I thought I might have to come to you.”

She watches him, does not react as he winds himself around her, not touching her, but making keeping her from leaving. This is fine. This is fine. She is not leaving without his face, anyway. “You’re expecting me.”

It isn’t a question she asks, but a statement.

Koh laughs to himself. “Oh, but of course. I keep tabs on those most…interesting to me. The Avatar, for one; so sorry I missed the opportunity to add his face to my collection. It is a face I have long desired for. But, imagine my surprise-” And his face changes again, to that of an old man, and it takes more concentration than Azula had anticipated to keep all of her reactions in. “-that you approach him, asking about me. So very curious. Why is it that you seek Koh, the Face Stealer?”

The clicking of his legs as he continues to coil around her is distracting, unnerving.

“….I heard that you might help me.” Better to tell a half truth, to not reveal it all.

Again, he laughs. “Whoever told you that I offer help has led you astray. It is not in my nature to simply…help. You should have listened to the Avatar when he told you who I was.” One of his legs strokes her cheek, and Azula nearly flinches.

No. He is trying to pull a reaction from her. She closes her eyes, and inhales slowly, calming her nerves. This is for Ty Lee. She will survive this for Ty Lee.

“It is too bad,” Koh continues. “I’ve not a member of royalty in my collection, and your face is so lovely, my dear. I don’t think I can let you go without taking it.”

His body moves in closer around her, and Azula draws the mirror up to her chest before her arms are pinned to her side.

“I appear to be at your mercy,” she says as if that were not the case at all, and opens her eyes, only to be greeted by the face of a platypus bear inches from her own.

“I do not have mercy, Princess.”

Arrogance. She can smell that on him, thought. He believes he has won, and the only tool she has to get herself out of this mess is cleverness.

“In that case, I clearly am going to lose my face to you. I am curious, Koh, what it is you look like, your face, I mean.”

Koh’s movements stop, her words catching him by surprise. “A strange last request.”

“Morbid curiosity.”

He chuckles. “Apparently so.” And he goes quiet, and she hopes he is considering her request, as he resumes his circling. “Well, Princess, I do believe you are to be the first in a millennia to witness the face granted to me by the Mother of Faces.”

His head stops at level with hers, and Azula keeps her eyes trained on him, waiting-

When his casing shuts in that split second when his face is about to change, Azula swiftly pulls the mirror up in front of her face, the reflective surface toward him; she shuts her eyes tightly, and only when she thinks back will she recognize the idiocy of that action, for that in itself was an expression-

But Koh screams- no, _roars-_ and his body around her tightens briefly, before collapsing, and there is only silence. It takes nearly a whole minute for Azula to gain the courage to open her eyes (and it is lucky that there is no one around her to witness that moment of weakness). Koh is lifeless on the ground, his head not unlike that of any other insect with far too many legs. A glance in the mirror reveals Koh, trapped inside. Azula cannot be certain if he is alive or dead in the mirror, and she honestly doesn’t care.

Still, it is not until she returns to her ship and the mirror is safely locked away in a chest that she allows herself to finally relax and let herself show her emotions again.

* * *

If Shinda is pleased with the result of the task, she does not show it.

At her ruined temple, the spirit accepts the mirror, hardly glancing at it, before telling Azula that it is done. She is gone before Azula can demand clarification, and Azula returns to Caldera, frustrated and wondering if she had just been used.

Ty Lee is overjoyed to see her, of course, with more than twenty questions about her mysterious trip. Azula merely kisses her, pulling her into the bedroom for some much neglected time together.

In the morning, over a sleepy breakfast in bed, Azula then explains to Ty Lee. To her credit, Ty Lee is silent during the entire tale (save for squeaks of shock and fear as Azula tells of her encounter with Koh), but this could be more out of surprise than being a good listener.

When she finishes, Ty Lee leans closer to her, placing a hand on hers.

“Azula,” she speaks softly, “you did all that….for _me_?”

“I suppose I did,” Azula responds almost playfully, and plants a kiss on Ty Lee’s cheek. “I told you. For you, I would do anything.”

Ty Lee’s large eyes fill with tears, and before she can even succumb to them, Azula has pulled her into her arms. Ty Lee clings to her, nearly sobbing through her tears of joy. Azula plants a kiss to the top of her head.

“Our child will be the brightest, strongest child the nation has ever seen,” she whispers to Ty Lee, and it is not wishful thinking, but a promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was hit with major inspiration for this today, and put my other projects on hold for this fic, so...you're welcome?
> 
> Probably about the fastest I've written anything, so I apologize is this makes no sense or is riddled with errors. I did not proof read this before uploading. 
> 
> Also, I have a Tumblr. [Here it is.](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/soozenwrites) Follow me for nonsense about writing and fandom goodness.


	3. Chapter 3

Azula has never imagined that she would be an overprotective spouse. But then again, she also has never imagined that she would kill a spirit just so that Ty Lee could be pregnant with her child.

In her defense, there is woeful little she can do to prepare herself, and even less she can do to help Ty Lee. As soon as the pregnancy was confirmed, Azula had demanded every last text on the subject of pregnancy be brought to her, so she could better understand what was going to be happening with Ty Lee.

One single scroll is given to her, containing absolutely no new information. Apparently, pregnancy is woman’s work through and through, and not worth recording on; midwifery is passed on through practical application and oral teachings only. Azula is quick to correct that. The first visit from the current midwife, Azula demands that she record everything she knows on the subject; what to expect, what changes were ahead for Ty Lee, what complications could arise and all their symptoms.

However, this will not help Azula much. There is so much to be recorded, the midwife doubts she will be able to finish it within the span of a year.

Azula insists on being in present for every check up from the midwife. There is little need for concern, the midwife tells her every time. She is a young woman- perhaps only in her thirties- but going prematurely grey, and has a bounce in her step; her name is Nuwa, and she is the second midwife that Azula has hired. Ty Lee adores her, and that is all that matters.

The first midwife was older, with plenty more experience than Nuwa, but she was also more clinical, less warm. Azula thought she was perfectly suited, straight and to the point with her visits, not necessarily focusing on comfort but the task at hand. Ty Lee, however, had not liked her, was not at ease when she was around. After the second visit, when Ty Lee confessed that her touch was rough, Azula dismissed her.

Ty Lee was to only know comfort during this pregnancy. It was likely to be her only one, and Azula refuses to have her look back on it with anything but fondness.

That said, it was hard not to closely watch everything Ty Lee did, now that Azula knew that there was a life growing inside of her, a life that was just as much hers as it was Ty Lee’s. And suddenly, it became so much more vital that Ty Lee care of herself.

* * *

“Ty Lee! What are you doing?”

Azula glares down into the courtyard, certain that she _must_ be hallucinating, because what she is seeing, well, it cannot be real. In the gardens, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she is _pregnant,_ Ty Lee is balancing on her hands, toes pointed right to the sky. At Azula’s snap, she turns- and Azula’s heart lurches, to see her now _move_ _while upside down_ \- and gives her a wide smile.

“Oh this? It’s just my normal routine.” And her smile never fades, it never seems to register that there is a danger now, in being so nonchalant in her activity.

She grits her teeth, taking several steps closer. “You could fall; what if you fell on the baby, Ty Lee?”

Honestly, did she ever _think_?

Azula has to remind herself that she loves Ty Lee dearly, that it has always been her charm more than her mind that attracted her in the first place, that Ty Lee clearly had not thought through the consequences of a mistake.

She nearly screams when Ty Lee waves dismissively at her, for then she was balancing on only one hand. _One. Hand._ Was she trying to give her a heart attack?

“You’re worrying too much, Azula.” She’s still smiling, that dopey, lovely smile. “The midwife said it was good to keep up with my normal fitness, that it’s good for the baby-”

“ _She didn’t know that you are an acrobat_ ,” Azula growls through gritted teeth, but Ty Lee continues as if she never heard her.

“-and besides, I’m not even showing, so it isn’t going to throw me off balance any.”

Azula shuts her eyes, pressing her fingers to her temple. “Ty Lee. Please- you know how little I use that word-”

“You never do,” Ty Lee chirps.

“Precisely. So understand how very dearly I need you to stop what you are doing, and _please_ stick to exercises that keep your feet on the ground.”

There is slight pause, then a quiet sigh, before Ty Lee relents. “Fine, Azula. But only because you asked nicely.”

Azula opens her eyes, and Ty Lee is standing exactly the way a normal person would. She lets out a breath, calming herself down before continuing to where Ty Lee stood. Pressing her lips to Ty Lee’s cheek, she murmurs, “Thank you.”

* * *

Azula becomes used to the bouts of nausea that overcomes Ty Lee, seemingly at random. The first few times, she is brought to her knees, the smell or sight of almost anything making it all worse. But, strangely enough, they quickly learn that by sucking on a lemon wedge, Ty Lee is able to make the nausea pass.

Suddenly, bowls of lemons are kept everywhere Ty Lee travels to.

It is the random cravings that Azula cannot get used to. If there was a pattern to what Ty Lee wanted to eat and when, it would be no problem. Azula could have everything she wanted available to her immediately.

But, there was no pattern. One morning, it is pig-chicken dumplings that she wants for breakfast, and cannot fathom eating anything else. The next morning, the very thought of eating pig-chicken dumplings has Ty Lee heaving into a chamber pot. Ty Lee wakes Azula in the middle of the night, with large eyes and a request for a custard tart topped with fire flakes, and Azula nearly wants to vomit at the thought of eating that combination, and has to find a way to procure this monstrosity when the kitchen staff have retired for the night.

The only solution is to employ kitchen staff to work round the clock. Zuko is less than thrilled about this, but at least has the sense not to argue with Azula over this.

Absolutely _nothing_ is anywhere near as important as Ty Lee’s needs.

* * *

“Azula! Azula, look!”

It is morning, they are dressing for the day. Well, Azula is already dressed; Ty Lee has always taken longer than her, and this morning is no different.

She looks up from filing her nails, over to where Ty Lee stands before a mirror. Her wife is looking at her reflecting from the side, and hand on her bare stomach, grinning excitedly.

“What is it?” Azula asks idly, because whatever Ty Lee is trying to show her is not as apparent as she thinks.

“ _Look_ ,” she says again, this time pointing to her flat stomach. “I think I’m starting to show! See?”

If only to humor her, Azula stands, crossing the room to stand beside Ty Lee, and examine her figure. Ty Lee has always been trim, and has been waiting- rather impatiently- for her stomach to start rounding out. She is still thin, her stomach flat, and Azula nearly thinks she’s going to have to break it to her, that no, she hasn’t started to show. But then Ty Lee shifts, and at this different angle, Azula can see the barest of curves to her lower stomach.

“You are.” Her voice is quiet, almost in awe, as it suddenly becomes very real that there is, in fact, their child growing inside of Ty Lee. Gently, she puts her hand to where that curve is, and it is so slight, she can hardly feel the difference from what Ty Lee normally feels like.

Ty Lee rests her hand atop of Azula’s, absolutely beaming.

No one else will be able to notice it, and frankly, Azula is perfectly fine with that. It can be their secret for now.

* * *

The sense of pride that Azula feels when looking at Ty Lee and her rounded stomach is one that is unlike anything she has ever felt before. The ‘morning sickness’ has long since passed, and Ty Lee has that fabled pregnancy glow. Every time Ty Lee rests her hand on her stomach, with the most content smile Azula has ever seen, she knows that she made the right decision.

It is a warm spring afternoon and they are sitting in the gardens, by the same pond that had played near as children. Reports are spread out in front of Azula as Ty Lee hums to herself, crafting a sort of flower crown, when suddenly, Ty Lee freezes, staring down at her stomach.

“What is it?” Azula is already on edge, the worst case scenarios running through her mind.

“I think- oh! Oh, yes- Azula! This is so exciting!” Ty Lee is grinning, and that is always a good sign, but it doesn’t explain anything at all.

“Ty Lee, what are you talking about?”

She doesn’t answer, just grabs her hand, placing it over her stomach. Azula eyes Ty Lee, her palm flat, fingers spread out. The smile on her face is so eager, so excited; but nothing is happening.

“…Ty Lee, are you going to tell me what it is that is happening?”

Ty Lee’s face drops. “You don’t feel that? Here.” And she presses Azula’s hand even more firmly down. “The baby’s kicking!”

Azula frowns, focusing, trying to feel for any sort of movement beneath her fingers. But there is nothing.

“I don’t feel anything at all,” she says, pulling her hand away, and Ty Lee looks so very crestfallen she nearly takes it back. “Remember what Nuwa said; you’re going to feel the baby move on the inside well before it can be felt on the outside.”

Ty Lee sighs, nodding.

And this continues, for several weeks. Constantly, usually while they are resting, Ty Lee grabs her hand without warning, holding it to her stomach, and looks eagerly at Azula, expectantly. And she was consistently left disappointed.

Until, one night, Azula is jerked awake by Ty Lee gripping her shoulder, shaking her. She jolts up, instantly terrified that _something happened_ , but Ty Lee is only grinning at her, her face illuminated by the moonlight flooding in through the window. Once again, Azula finds Ty Lee taking her hand, pushing it to her stomach, and Azula lets out a sigh.

“Ty Lee, did you really wake me up for-”

She stops. Her eyes open wide, staring at Ty Lee. Beneath the pads of her fingers, there’s movement, like something small poking at her from beneath Ty Lee’s skin. It was quick, there for an instant, only just barely detectable.

There was so much fighting to come out of her, so many emotions, Azula quieted them the only way she knew how: pressing her lips to Ty Lee’s in a forceful kiss.

“I know,” Ty Lee murmurs against her mouth. “It’s amazing.”

“Incredible,” Azula agrees.

* * *

The baby moves the most at night.

Nuwa has explained that all the movement during the day, of Ty Lee walking about, it is akin to rocking a baby to sleep. When Ty Lee stops moving, the baby wakes up. At first, Ty Lee finds this to be almost magical, excited to feel the baby kick and roll about, and share the moment with Azula. But then, the baby’s constant movement interferes with her sleeping.

“Why can’t the baby sleep when I sleep?” Ty Lee bemoans for the fourth night in a row, and Azula is starting to feel the same way. If Ty Lee isn’t sleeping, it seems that Azula isn’t allowed to sleep either. She’s starting to resent this child, and it hasn’t even been born yet.

“You could be less active during the day,” Azula points out, tired of this new nightly norm.

Ty Lee lets out a grunt, shoving the blankets down and pulling her nightdress up to expose her now very large stomach. “Momma just wants to sleep,” she says sternly, poking at her belly. “So go to sleep.”

“Right, scold the baby before they’re even born,” Azula rolls her eyes, but she drifts closer, letting her hand rest on Ty Lee’s stomach. “Who thought you would be the strict parent?”

Ty Lee huffs, and lets out a whine. “I’m _tired_ , Azula. I’m always tired now, and I always have to go to the bathroom, and my hips hurt, and I’m just _tired_.”

“It won’t be long yet.”

The smile Ty Lee gives her is an exhausted one, and Azula wishes she could force the baby to stop moving, to give her some rest.

“I know,” Ty Lee sighs, shutting her eyes. “Just a few more weeks…. And then I won’t be sleeping for a different reason.”

There isn’t a way to make this easier for Ty Lee. Azula knows; she’s tried. Instead, she rubs the side of Ty Lee’s stomach, as if that movement would soothe the baby. It’s quite active, and she looks down at her swollen stomach, and gasps.

She can _see the baby moving_. It’s as if there’s a prairie-rat under the surface of the skin, scurrying back and forth from one side of her stomach to the next.

“Ty Lee, your stomach.” Her voice is strained, uncertain if what she is seeing is real.

Ty Lee opens her eyes, and just stares, before letting out bursts of nervous laughter. And she just keeps laughing, and Azula isn’t certain if it’s because she is so tired all she can do is laugh, or that the sight is just so bizarre.

“Ohh, this is so _weir_ d,” Ty Lee manages to say between laughter, and rubs her face, and Azula can only agree wholeheartedly.

* * *

Labor, it turns out, is a much, much longer event than Azula expects. Nuwa had, earlier in Ty Lee’s pregnancy, explained that labor could take half a day to several, but that sounded like an absolute lie to scare them, so she had brushed it off as such.

It starts slow, which is to be expected. Ty Lee feels strange twinges and cramps, and they start out sporadic. Azula watches her closely; the baby could come at any time, after all. But Ty Lee brushes her off, that these could only be those ‘practice’ contractions Nuwa had mentioned.

“Don’t call for Nuwa, you’ve called for her six times this week,” Ty Lee says as she paces their bedroom, hands at the back of her hips, wincing as another contraction hits her. “It’s not- it’s not that bad. And they aren’t consistent.”

“You’re talking as if you’re already experienced in childbirth,” Azula counters, arms folded across her chest.

Ty Lee smiles at her, but the smile is strained; she’s frustrated. Whether with her or the baby, Azula is not certain. “I know what Nuwa said; that even if it is real contractions, it’s going to take a long time before the baby will come out. Just relax Azula.”

“ _You_ relax. You’ve been wearing down the tile for the past hour.”

“Walking helps,” Ty Lee shakes her head. “But seriously. I’m fine. Why don’t you try to nap? You haven’t slept much recently.”

She isn’t lying. Half the times Azula has called for the midwife have been in the middle of the night, and each time, her adrenaline had been pumping, not allowing her to fall back asleep. Azula is near exhausted.

“And leave you alone to ignore the signs and give birth alone in the middle of the hall? Unlikely.”

The scowl that briefly flitters across Ty Lee’s face is almost endearing. “You’re so stubborn,” Azula just barely hears her mutter.

Ty Lee has never won any disagreement with Aula, and she isn’t about to start now, but a sort of truce is reached. Azula refrains from reaching out for the midwife, and Ty Lee stops urging her to rest. She walks with Ty Lee throughout the palace, holding her hand. There’s an ulterior motive for this; Ty Lee grips her hand tightly every time a contraction hits her, for the duration of each one.

When it becomes apparent that the contractions are coming at a pace that Azula can practically time, she starts guiding Ty Lee to their wing, where a makeshift delivery room has been set up. Again, Zuko is not exactly pleased that she took over another room, but after learning of all the bodily fluids that would be expelled along with the baby, Azula refuses to allow Ty Lee to give birth in their bedroom.

Everything goes much faster then- or at least, it feels that way.

Ty Lee is hit with a contraction that nearly brings her to her knees before they reach the delivery room, and that is the last straw for Azula. She calls for Nuwa, certain that the midwife will have some sort of herb or trick, anything to make this less painful for Ty Lee.

Nuwa does not have any miracle anything to assist with the labor, only several other nurses to help them along. Even as Ty Lee moans, gripping Azula’s forearm so tightly that Azula fears it may actually snap, Nuwa acts more as a guide than anything else. Azula wants to scream at her, fire her, but Ty Lee is listening to the woman, trusting her, and she has to swallow her pride and let someone else take control.

It is infuriating. It is _heart breaking_ , and _terrifying_ , to see Ty Lee in so much pain, her face red and straining, as Nuwa guides her through the contractions, knowing that she herself can do nothing to make her feel better.

Perhaps it was a mistake, she thinks as another hour passes, and Ty Lee is only just now starting to push, to seek out Shinda. Ty Lee is covered in sweat, her bangs matted to her forehead, and she is exhausted. Azula has not left her side, following whatever instructions Nuwa gives her, because it is the _only_ thing she can do.

She holds Ty Lee from behind, helping her stay upright, whispering encouraging words in her ear. Nuwa is in front, telling her when to push and for how long, and Azula is ready to snap at the woman, that she needs to find a way for Ty Lee to take a break, that Ty Lee needs to rest, she has been doing this for _hours-_

Ty Lee lets out a loud groan, harsher than all the others she’s uttered during this hellish time, and then there’s a baby’s cry, sharper than Azula expects. She looks over Ty Lee’s shoulder as Nuwa gently pushes the crying newborn to Ty Lee’s chest, and somehow, even as she slumps back against Azula, Ty Lee has the strength to hold the infant.

The baby _\- their daughter_ \- is so small, so loud, and so very, very perfect. Azula cannot take her eyes off of her, even as one of the nurses produces a cloth to wipe the baby clean. Ty Lee is crying, stroking their little one’s face, and Azula understands why her wife is sobbing. The emotions rolling through her now are like nothing she has ever felt in her life.

“She’s perfect,” Azula murmurs by Ty Lee’s ear, pressing a kiss to her neck for that is all she can reach at this angle.

“She’s _ours_. Our little Tomoko.”

Azula raises an eyebrow that Ty Lee will never see. That was not the name they had agreed on; Ty Lee had pushed for an entirely different name, one that would ‘bring harmony’ to their family, whatever that had meant.

But as she looks down at her daughter, Azula smiles, and agrees, “Tomoko.”

She has never known a love like this before; the strength of it, swelling inside her and filling her to the brim, it is greater than when she first saw kissed Ty Lee, greater than what she had felt on her wedding day. If she would confront spirits and challenge the laws of nature for Ty Lee, there is no limit to what she would do for the precious life in Ty Lee’s arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. Now this is finished, and I hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> This chapter was a lot of fun to write; I drew quite a bit from my own experience with pregnancy, and witnessing my sister give birth (because I genuinely don't remember much of my labor at all, thanks to a lovely combo of morphine, an epidural, and labor amnesia that happens to us all).
> 
> The name for their daughter was supplied to me by a nice tumblr user by the name of taintedprincess, so thank you for that!
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/soozenwrites)


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